Eureka to Redding in 3.5 days?

Hey all,

This May, my girlfriend and i are hoping to bike from Eureka [originally wrote Eugene] to Redding over the course of 3 1/2 days. She's teaching seminars around the State, and is trying to do everything by train, bus and bike. Unfortunately, neither Amtrak nor Greyhound have direct service--they both go through the Bay Area--so we decided to make a long weekend of that leg of the journey. On the one hand, by taking Hwy 299, we could send almost all of our stuff ahead to Redding and we could just stay in hotels/cabins in Willow Creek and Weaverville and carry the bare minimum over the Trinity Alps. On the other hand, we've heard bad things about the conditions on Hwy 299, so an alternate route would be great. Some friends of mine took some dirt roads (probably forest service roads) and had no problems even on road tires, but they couldn't tell me exactly which ones. In Humboldt County, at least, there is just a maze of roads and i wouldn't know which to take. In any case, the alternate routes all seem to have more and higher climbs, PLUS, we'd have to take more gear due to the lack of accommodations.

SO, here i am, asking the impossible: suggestions for a route over the Trinity Alps that would take less than 3.5 days, not have terrible road conditions, and be somewhat near accommodations. Oh, and my girlfriend, while a fairly strong rider, has never toured before. Any takers?

Consider taking Hwy 36 from Fortuna - just south of Eureka
Then connect with Platina Road just before you get to the Central Valley northwest into Redding.
Paved - very, very low traffic. Google "Platina Road" for motorcyclist's photo.
Here's Caltrans data on traffic volume - scroll down to Hwy 36:http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/sa...l/r034-43i.htm

Eugene? Eureka?
Are heading down the coast and then back inland.
3 1/2 days ain't a long time to do it. In fact, almost impossible.

What exactly do you mean????
Eureka to Redding could be done via Hwy 36 in about 2 1/2 days. 3 easy days.
BUT, there will be lots of climbing.

Yes, i did mean Eureka. It's late. I got confused. In any case, Hwy 36 sounds decent, though going through those hills fully-loaded doesn't sound great, especially since i'll be on my fixed-gear travel bike (it's currently getting drilled for a rear brake so i could at least coast). I made it through the Big Sur Coast fully loaded on that bike (and during last spring's crazy storms), but this might be pushing it. If you would consider 3 days an easy ride, though, perhaps it's more do-able than i thought.

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by jamawani

Consider taking Hwy 36 from Fortuna - just south of Eureka
Then connect with Platina Road just before you get to the Central Valley northwest into Redding.
Paved - very, very low traffic. Google "Platina Road" for motorcyclist's photo.
Here's Caltrans data on traffic volume - scroll down to Hwy 36:http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/sa...l/r034-43i.htm

Eugene? Eureka?
Are heading down the coast and then back inland.
3 1/2 days ain't a long time to do it. In fact, almost impossible.

What exactly do you mean????
Eureka to Redding could be done via Hwy 36 in about 2 1/2 days. 3 easy days.
BUT, there will be lots of climbing.